By Mike Lipari | Project Leader
Wings of Hope continued activities and services in the field of psychotherapy and counseling, encompassed by its multi-systemic integrative model of work (cooperation between a psychiatrist, physiotherapist, social worker, pedagogues, teachers, and legal aid). The Foundation’s model of a multi-systemic integrative approach to the needs of the project participants both attracts the attention of adult clients and helps to grow the number of children included in psychotherapy and counseling sessions.
Our multi-systemic approach and the availability of different services makes Wings of Hope the first choice compared to public institutions, which are usually overwhelmed by the number of people seeking help. In addition, Wings of Hope is able to provide services to those who either do not have insurance or fall through a legal loophole as laws establishing the standardization and recognition of psychotherapy do not exist. As a result, the demand for Wings of Hope services is very high.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Wings of Hope adapted quickly to provide crisis intervention hotlines due to the high demand and a shortage of expertise available in the area. Following the pandemic, Wings of Hope continues to provide this service as necessary. Additionally, other organizations have also started to offer crisis intervention support. As such, the number of crisis intervention calls has decreased during this period, although individuals continue to seek psychosocial support for problems stemming from the long-term impact of the pandemic as well as other, non-pandemic related crises.
Eleven (11) psychotherapists, with training experience in Gestalt psychotherapy, CBT (Cognitive behavioral therapy), Child adolescent integrative psychotherapy, Systematic family therapy, and a psychiatrist create a network of psychological support that cannot be obtained anywhere else in the Sarajevo Canton or further afield. Since society has reopened following the lockdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic, only 10% of clients are online at the time of this report.
For children, the most common issues are psychosis, which makes psychotherapy very complicated. Children with psychosis are first diagnosed by a psychiatric clinic in Sarajevo, then they come to WoH. The requirement of working with a psychiatric clinic, while necessary, is difficult because there are only 2 psychiatrists in BiH who specialize in child psychology. Adolescents have presented with Borderline Personality Disorder, as well as suffering from depression and suicide attempts. Young adults have frequently presented with Borderline, Anxiety, and Depressive Personality Disorders. Additionally, many presented with Adjustment Disorders with anxiety; they have anxiety about doing new things to the extent that they cannot function normally. Adults have most commonly presented with depression and PTSS.
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